SUPERIOR, Wis.: The word in French is chaud. In Spanish it's caliente. In Italian it's caldo, and in Portuguese it's quente. No matter the language you can find an equivalent to the English word for hot, and every single one of them would serve as an apt descriptor of the Yellowjacket volleyball team these days.
The Yellowjackets are on fire. Period. After Saturday's sweep of a triangle at Mertz Mortorelli Gym, the Yellowjackets have now won six straight and ten of their last dozen, placing them two games ahead of the next closest team in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference and directly on the heels of conference favorite Northwestern, who they have a date with this week.
Yellowjackets 3, Crown 0
The Yellowjackets made quick work of a struggling Crown College squad, dispatching the Storm in straight sets to pick up the win in the first match of the triangular.
Crown took the early lead in the set before the Yellowjackets took four straight points, riding a pair of kills each from
Hannah Goggleye (Calumet, Minn./Greenway) and
Cami Sletta (Willmar, Minn./Willmar) to pull ahead. The Yellowjackets took a comfortable lead and put distance between themselves and the Storm with a 6-1 run to close out the first set 25-12.
In the second set the Yellowjackets jumped out to the early lead, but the Storm showed life and rallied to take the lead, 6-5. From there the Yellowjackets would reel off a stretch of 15 points in 19 tries to pull away. A pair of Crown errors sealed the deal, giving the Yellowjackets the set at 25-13 and a 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set followed a familiar pattern, with the Yellowjackets again building a massive lead, but it didn't come right away. As the set unfolded the teams traded points and the Yellowjackets found themselves up by just one, 13-12. A kill by
Anna Ribich (Biwabik, Minn./Mesabi East) started the run and a kill by Sletta ended it, as the 'Jackets took 12 of the final 13 points to cruise to a 25-13 win and a 3-0 sweep of the match.
Sletta paced the offense with 12 kills while Ribich posted eight and Goggleye seven.
Emily VerWay (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley) had 43 assists and a pair of aces to go along with eight digs.
Karlie Leif (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji) posted 10 digs, making her the only Yellowjacket to reach double digits.
Yellowjackets 3, Minnesota Morris 2
Things came easily for the Yellowjackets in their first match of the day, but it was anything but easy in the finale, as for the second time this week the Yellowjackets were pushed to play the full five sets.
The Cougars started off hot to open the match, taking an early 11-5 lead. The lead would eventually hit seven before the Yellowjackets started to claw their way back. Leif's serves, coupled with kills from
Ashlee Bayer (Cameron, Wis./Cameron),
Brylee Colligan (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji) and Sletta got the Yellowjackets back to within one, 15-14. Then back-to-back kills by Bayer gave the Yellowjackets a 17-16 edge. Kills by Bayer and
Taylor Howe (Webster, Wis./Webster) followed, and along with a series of Morris errors put the Yellowjackets on the verge of an opening set win. The Cougars got a little closer, but Bayer went in for the kill and got it, giving the Yellowjackets the opening set, 25-21.
Morris started quickly again in the second set, opening up a 7-5 lead before the Yellowjackets battled back. Kills by Howe and Sletta helped the Yellowjackets move ahead 14-11, but the Cougars answered and reclaimed the lead 19-18. That's as close as the Yellowjackets would get and the Cougars tied the match 1-1, thanks to a 25-20 win in the second set.
The Yellowjackets fell behind early in the third set, trailing the Cougars 10-5. The lead would reach six at 15-9, but once again the Yellowjackets would battle their way back. The scores continued to tick up for both teams, and they were tied late at 22-22 when the Cougars took the lead. The Yellowjackets again had an answer, with a Ribich kill tying the set at 23-23 before a pair of Morris errors gave the Yellowjackets all they needed for a 25-23 win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
Morris jumped on the Yellowjackets in the fourth set, building an early 5-1 lead and they never looked back. The Yellowjackets would draw close, moving to within a point at 7-6, but after that it was all Cougars. Morris went on a 6-2 run to gain some breathing room, then took the final three points to comfortably win the fourth set 25-14 and even the match at 2-2.
The fifth and final set lacked some of the drama that the earlier sets provided, as the Yellowjackets jumped out to an early 5-1 lead. After the Cougars charted their second point the Yellowjackets rattled off the next five, putting themselves in prime position to gain the victory. Morris would win five of seven points to get to 12-7, but the Yellowjackets would take it the rest of the way, riding a pair of Howe kills and a Morris error to a 15-7 fifth-set victory, taking the match 3-2.
Sletta was a monster in the match, finishing with 22 kills and an attack percentage of .500. Bayer had 15 kills and Howe added 14 to help lead the Yellowjackets. VerWay posted another match of over 50 assists, putting up 53. She also had 10 digs, as four Yellowjackets reached double figures led by Colligan who had 17.
For the year the Yellowjackets are now 3-1 in matches that go five sets.
Up Next: The Yellowjackets (11-5, 6-0 U.M.A.C.) return to action Wednesday, September 26 when they play a pair of conference matches against Northwestern and Martin Luther. Match times from St. Paul, Minnesota are 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.
